On our way to and from Maine and Canada, we made a few side trips that we enjoyed very much.
In Pennsylvania, we spent several hours at the Flight 93 memorial near Shanksville. We were there on September 10. All I can say is that it was very moving and overwhelming.
After spending the night in Binghamton, New York, we made our way through beautiful Vermont and New Hampshire. I found a neat place while looking at hotel reviews on TripAdvisor, and I just had to see it! It’s called the Flume Gorge, which is located in Franconia Notch State Park. We barely made it to the Flume in time to rush through the door to pay the admission before it was closed for the day. I forgot to grab a Betty book! Rats. The Flume is an 800 foot long natural gorge. A boardwalk runs up the gorge, and it is a beautiful walk. At the top, we turned around and came back down the boardwalk instead of walking the trail back. We spent the night in Twin Mountain.
The next morning we rode the cog train to the top of Mt. Washington. It was fun. The PRT has a fascination with the crazy weather and the weather observatory on Mt. Washington. It’s the highest peak in the NE US. In 1934, there was a wind gust of 231 mph there. It was a bit hazy that morning, so we could not see all the way to the Atlantic. Betty posed for a shot looking out at the beautiful view. I didn’t think to pose Betty with the train.
On the way back, we made a stop for something that was really exciting for me. We went to West Point Military Academy! In another post I mentioned being very interested in the Battle of Little Bighorn. General Custer is buried at West Point, and I paid my respects at his grave. Then we visited the West Point Museum, and I was able to see a tiny scrap of paper. Wow! It is Custer’s last written order, written out by Adjutant Lieutenant W.W. Cooke, and carried by Giovanni Martini to Captain Benteen. Benteen saved it and gave it to a friend later. Eventually it was sold in an auction, and the buyer donated it to the museum. There were other Bighorn items there, too. We didn’t have the time to explore the whole museum, but I am so glad I was able to see the order.
I did manage to have a cup of tea on Delayed Bettysday! This is at a rather rundown hotel in Wells, Maine. After the beautiful Bayview and both wonderful B&Bs, this one was a bit of a shock to my system. The PRT left me to drink a cup of tea and read a chapter of Roses Have Thorns so that I could adjust. He, bless his heart, went to the guest laundry to wash a load of my knickers and socks. The PRT knows what it takes to soothe me.
More to come….
The colours of A Star Looks Down are perfect for the view from Mt. Washington. Betty AnoninTX "high up in the world".
ReplyDeleteFate posing in front of West Point Museum. That scrap of paper was a real highlight for you, wasn’t it?
Crummy hotel but English Teatime tea and a Betty with a teatime cover for Belated Bettysday tea – and the PRT doing the laundry, what a gem.
And the saga continues ...
P. S.: The picture of your tea at the "rather rundown hotel" reminds me of the times the RDD is served tea or a meal not up to his usual standard - and he is always so nice about it. These three scenes came to mind
Shirley makes a nice cuppa. in The Magic of Living
Tea at Mrs Brown’s in Fate Is Remarkable
Is that your tea or an early supper? Jason and Tishy served by Fred at the Cosy Café in Small Slice of Summer (I have read this scene within the last fourty-eight hours...sigh...Love it.)
Too bad you were too late to see The Old Man of the Mountain. On another trip, you might catch his legacy monument.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy the southwest -- mostly just been in and around Phoenix and Las Vegas (desert landscapes win out over casinos every time for me), and the sharp difference it offers from my New England childhood is breathtaking. But I adore New England, from semi-bustling Boston to the shores of Rhode Island and the mountains of Vermont and everything else.
When I was doing the BbtN pieces on sightseeing, I started pulling images suggestive of what Mary Matilda missed by never coming to the US -- but I had about ten (Sedona's red rocks! Seattle's islands! covered bridge in New England village, public artworks in Chicago, St. Louis's gorgeous botanical garden, Colorado's Rockies, Michigan's lake country, the California coast, robber barons' 'cottages' in Newport, miniature endangered deer in the Florida keys) and was still going strong. So I had to stop, as I wasn't willing or able to edit it down to a few. But New England will always be a top spot on any sightseeing tour of the USA I envision.
That little piece of paper was the emotional highlight of the trip.
ReplyDeleteI will admit that any time a book looks good in a setting, it is purely acccidental! I did try this trip to take books that somehow went with the park a bit. I meant to take Once for All Time to Canada (Clotilde's sister lived in Canada), but for some reason I picked up only five of the six I meant to take.
I also would have like to have seen the Old Man of the Mountain. We drove by the spot and looked up. We loved Vermont and New Hampshire and Maine. Just beautiful. The multiple white churches and the housing styles really struck us. Out here it's odd to see a house or building that is NOT made of brick. Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado will always be my top draws. The Rockies are just so breathtaking. If we didn't want/need to be near my family and the PRT's family, we would move to Montana in a heartbeat. I don't know who it is from Billings, Montana, who comes by the blog, but I love that area! Prairie meets the mountains.
Betty AnoninTX
PS I just hope this storm Sandy is not going to hit the NE (or anywhere) as hard as expected. :(
DeleteWho amongst us could expect a daring rescue should we decide to flee a misunderstanding in classic Betty style by heading out for an ill-advised long walk at the peak of Sandy? I'm afraid my luitenant-kolonel would simply presume I had sufficient field training to take care of myself....
DeleteNot me. But then, I would heed the warnings anyway. I just hope along with Betty AnoninTX that it won't be as bad as expected. And that people will find a safe shelter before the storm hits their area.
DeleteThe Jonkheer had a day off work today, and was still asleep when I left the house at 8:30am. His sound advice of the night before: "Don't drive under any falling trees." If I ever need rescue, Army Betty, I'm phoning you.
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